A great first day at the Calgary Expo - I haven't quite finished going through my finds for the day, and I'll be finding more tomorrow hopefully, so instead let's have a look a bit of an oddity - the John F. Kennedy biography comic from Dell.
What I'll say up front is that if this wasn't a biographical comic, it would make a pretty decent political piece of fiction. Kennedy appeared to live a pretty interesting life, and, though we're only getting a snapshot from a very particular point of view, he also seemed to be a pretty nice guy. Of course, of course, we have to note that biography really is fiction in a lot of ways, and this comic probably more so. It was published only a year after Kennedy's assassination, so there's certainly not going to be any damaging information. In fact, pop culture artifacts like this one are probably what helped contribute to JFK's reverential treatment that, in many ways, continues to the present day.
But as I say, this was actually a pretty excellent story. There's drama, action, success, and tragedy. I'm actually pretty impressed by Kennedy's World War II exploits, which really do stand in stark contrast to the current administrator of the U.S. JFK was also the first U.S. President to be born in the 20th century, which is really odd when you think about it. When reading that passage, I wondered how long it would be before we had a President born in the 21st century. Another 15-20 years, perhaps? Right now there's probably a 17-year old out there embarking on a path in politics that will eventually lead to the White House. Assuming, of course, that there's a country, or world, left to govern in 15 or 20 years.
Ah, enough pessimism. Still a bit bleary from pain and painkillers, so that's enough for today. Back to the Expo tomorrow - I'm giving a paper at 4PM, so if you're in the area, stop by and see what these ramblings sound like with sound.
To be continued.
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